


Coming Home To You

by Yuno Tootsuki (ytamano)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boyband, F/M, Family, Fangirls, Friendship, Gossip, Kindergarten, Music, POV First Person, POV Outsider, Rumors, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-08 08:23:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19103356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ytamano/pseuds/Yuno%20Tootsuki
Summary: Yamanaka Ino, a teacher and caregiver in Futaba Hoikuen, a private nursery school in Kiri, is intrigued by her favorite student, Haruno Sarada. The adorable little girl has caught her attention with her pretty face and sweet behavior, but what if she finds an unexpected story surrounding her background?Meanwhile, Ino has always been proud to call herself a hardcore fangirl of the current most popular boyband in their country, The Falcons. However, never once in her life did she ever expect that she would personally get involved with the boyband, led by Uchiha Sasuke, themselves, so is this like a dream comes true for her?Or instead the start of something big that will happen with her as the trigger?-----Alternate Universe. A SasuSaku fic told from Ino's POV.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: NARUTO and its characters belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. I also don't own any real life brands mentioned in the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mention of something that could be triggering for some people. Not everything I write here reflects my point of view in real life.

As usual, that girl is always the last one to be picked up.

I sigh, feeling sorry for her. Under the reddening sky, she plays with the sand alone in the yard. The children in this hoikuen have all been picked up by their family members, except for this little one.

“Sarada, still not going home yet?” I ask gently. I squat down next to Sarada—that girl’s name—and watch her busily filling up a rabbit-shaped cup with sands.

“No, Ino-sensei. Mama is not here yet,” she answers, without once taking her attention away from the sand-filled cup in her tiny hands.

Haruno Sarada is one of the students coming to Futaba Hoikuen as of this April. She is still three years old, but I think she is a very talented child. Her vocabularies and the way she speaks are way beyond the average children her age. So far, my impression of her is that she is a pretty nice and obedient child, although is also a little bit too quiet in class, but perhaps that’s more because she hasn’t got used to her classmates yet.

“It’s about to get dark soon so I think it’s better for you to play inside rather than outside. How about if we play origami together? I will show you how to make a bird origami if you want.”

She looks at me and gives me a wide smile. “Yes, I want to do that please.”

This girl is reaaally cute, I just can’t… I mean I feel like I could last a day just by pinching those chubby cheeks of hers, but then again if I actually did that she would cry and then I would end up getting scolded by Kurenai-sensei, the hoikuen’s principal. But for real though, Sarada is a total cutie. With her shoulder-length ebony hair, dark eyes, and reddened cheeks, I think she will definitely grow up to be a beautiful teenager who is popular with the boys—like how I was back in the day lol.

After we wash our hands, I take her hand and lead her to a classroom. I prepare the colored papers that we are going to use for origami on top of the table before showing her how to make a bird shape from a piece of a paper. Seeing her struggle with her own origami—to the point that some slight wrinkles are forming on her forehead—is really adorable.

I can say that Sarada is my most favorite student here—even though she’s been attending this hoikuen only for two weeks. I know I shouldn’t actually be playing favorites as a teacher, but it can’t be helped; this child has caught my eye even from the beginning.

Not only her sweet face and behavior that stand out, but it’s also the fact that Sarada is always the last one to be picked up by her family and go home. Basically, the hoikuen or nursery school is a facility offering day care and education for young children up to 5 years old whose parents are busy with work or other activities for the day. Therefore, the normal time for the parents to come get their children is after the normal working hours end or around 5 to 6 PM. 

However, in Sarada’s case, it is quite different. Her mother can only pick her up at around 7 PM at the latest when the sky has become completely dark, and even until this day I still remember that one time when she came a bit later than usual. 

Due to that, Sarada has always been the last child left after the hoikuen’s working hours end.

Tenten-sensei, one of the caregivers here, and I are usually the ones accompanying Sarada until her mother came picking her up. As far as I know, her mother is a medical student. I know that because I have talked with her for a brief moment after she came a bit later than usual. I also think she’s around my age, judging by her appearance only, perhaps around 20 or 21 years old. 

Well, to be honest, I didn’t know that university students can be that busy to the point that they come home late in a daily basis. I never attend one after all. After graduating from high school, I chose to work and immediately become part of society when normally high school graduates will continue to university. I did several part-time jobs until I took a chance part-timing in this hoikuen and after two years in, I was finally appointed as a full-time staff.

And after a few years working in this field, this is the first time I encounter a situation as unique as Sarada and her mother. Honestly speaking, it’s not only because how sweet the former is, and not only because of how the latter is still a student yet always comes home late in the evening.

…but also—

“Sarada, your Mama is finally here to pick you up!” Tenten-sensei’s voice was heard, interrupting my train of thoughts and distracting Sarada from the bird origamis she’s been folding for the last fifteen minutes—she learns very quickly by the way.

“Mama!” Sarada shouts, looking excited. She then looks at her origami before directing her dark eyes towards me. “Ino-sensei, can I bring my origami with me? Oh, and some colored papers too?”

“You want to show them to your Mama?” I asked and she nods. “If that’s the case then of course you can! What colors do you want?”

“Red, pink, and purple!”

Sarada is truly adorable I’m telling you.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.

“You know what, if I’m lucky enough to have children, I want to have one like Sarada,” I say randomly and position my back on the sofa more comfortably.

“Before you have children, you should find a husband first.”

My eyebrows furrow at that, and then I throw a pillow at the source of the voice—which is none other than Temari, my best friend, of course. Temari is Shikamaru’s wife and Shikamaru is my childhood friend as well as my neighbor. After he graduated from the police academy, he basically becomes so busy even in the weekends. So, Temari and their two-year-old son, Shikadai, often visit my apartment whenever Shikamaru is at work.

And usually during Shikadai’s nap time, Temari and I would just relax in the living room and chat while reading magazines or watching television at the same time. Bluntly speaking, both of us actually belong to the stubborn and headstrong type of women, and often times we would find ourselves on the opposite ends during an argument, yet somehow, she’s never failed becoming my comfort zone to basically talk about everything with. 

Precisely because of the differences in our way of seeing things, I often confide and ask for her opinion. She knows a lot about me—like for instance my favorite food, the lipstick brand I use, and even my love story from elementary school until now. She would often tease me who’s currently single, and sometimes she likes to match-making me with her youngest brother just because we’re at the same age—Temari is the most annoying when she’s like that and besides I know that Gaara, her brother, already has his own long-time girlfriend back in their hometown.

My point is, it’s no longer a strange occurrence that she would tease me again at this exact moment and, although I probably look like I’m angry from the outside—especially after throwing that poor pillow at her, she knows that not even a single strand of my hair is angry at or even offended by her words. 

Instead, she would throw the pillow back at me calmly and continue reading the magazine as if nothing has ever happened in the first place. And she does exactly just that.

“Don’t try having a child before a husband, Ino.” Temari continues to comment. Well, as you can see, she’s rather a conservative one at that.

“Yeah, I know,” I say as a response, hugging the pillow close to my chest, “you know I’ve always been careful even with all my exes. So chill woman.”

She nods and we go into a comfortable silent after that. I switch the television channels one by one, looking for any interesting broadcasts, but I can only find news and more boring news. So disappointing. However, it is at that precise moment when something suddenly comes across my mind.

“Speaking of children out of wedlock,” I start, “I think that could be the right thing to describe Sarada.”

“Hm, what do you mean?”

“I’ve told you before that Sarada’s mother is a single mom, haven’t I? And so, adding to that, I think she’s never been married before either.”

“You asked her that in person?”

“No, I didn’t. I mean you just can’t ask something as personal as that to someone you barely know, and on top of that she’s also the parent of my student. If she’s personally offended then I could as well be fired and my career would end,” I sneer. 

“It’s instinct.” I continue. “A woman’s instinct to be precise.”

“Since when your instincts are ever right, huh? And I don’t think it’s morally right to just assume something you have no idea about. Especially, just like what you’ve said, about a person you barely know.”

“But I don’t just randomly assume things out of nowhere, Temari. It’s just that yesterday I found something really odd about Sarada.” I try to recall what happened when the kids were taking a nap yesterday. “At that time, I was looking through the students’ personal data to find an emergency number of a kid who fell down on the stairs, and in the middle of it I accidentally looked through Sarada’s and guess what I found?”

Temari turns her full attention at me. It seems like she’s become interested in this topic. “No idea. What?”

“The column regarding her father is completely empty. There’s absolutely nothing written there. Not even his name,” I reply, the images of Sarada’s data still lingering in my mind. “I can’t help but think that the reason why there’s no data about the father perhaps is because he doesn’t want to be responsible? And if he really doesn’t, then how the heck could there be a possibility of them being married?”

“You have a point there,” Temari responds, stroking her chin. “But what if rather than because he doesn’t want to be responsible, instead it’s simply because he isn’t even aware that he has a daughter in the first place?”

“You mean Sarada’s mom hides her from her own father?” I shout in bewilderment. “Oh my God, this is like something that comes out of those soapy teenage dramas!”

“Well, it’s just one out of many possibilities.”

“But then why do you think Haruno-san hides Sarada from her father? If it’s about differences in financial status, judging from their appearances, Sarada and Haruno-san definitely come from a family with wealth. Or perhaps…”

“Perhaps?”

“Sarada is the result of… rape…?”

We pause for a moment.

“Don’t say such things, Ino! It’s impossible right!”

“It’s not a good scenario… but there’s still a possibility. God forbids but if I were in a position like that, I would never want to have something to do with the person who did it to me anymore, let alone demand a form of responsibility out of him.”

“Still…” Temari sighs and massages her forehead softly, “…we’d better stop this conversation because I feel like it’s getting a little bit out of hand here, not to mention we are merely assuming things without any solid evidences.”

“As expected from the wife of a police officer, huh, because you’re starting to talk like your husband,” I chuckle. “But you’re right. Not that I know much about rape victims, but I don’t think Haruno-san could be one of them. I mean, I don’t know… I imagine it’s such a very traumatic event and I don’t think they can just make a full recover quickly, whereas Haruno-san seems like a cheerful person walking on a very bright future, I mean she’s even a medical student—a very busy one at that. Not to mention since Sarada is a clever child, perhaps she gets it from her mom.”

“Well, you don’t know how someone actually is behind what they show on the outside. But still it’s not a good idea to assume something like that about someone you don’t know on a personal level.”

“Yeah, I got it and besides there could be many possibilities beyond that on why Sarada’s father isn’t included in the data.” I ruffle my blonde hair. “Ah… I’m so curious right now! I think it’s better to ask the person directly, but before that I need to be close friends with her first so that she can find it comfortable to share the story with me.”

“You never change at all. Always easily get curious about all the things that caught your attention.”

I stuck my tongue at Temari. How dare she said that about me but… I admit she is kind of right. Back when Shikamaru and her were still mere friends, I bribed him with treats just so that he would tell me who the heck was the girl he was interested in. 

Social media used to be not so booming back in the day, and it was rather difficult to find out things about someone, but now is different.

Like maybe I can find out more about Haruno-san if I can just find any social medias she’s using. I mean, I don’t expect much but it’s still better than nothing, right? Moreover, I find it rather impossible for young women like her in this day and age not to have one.

So then I proceed to grab my iPhone and open my Instagram account. I was about to use the search feature when the first post I see on the screen catches my interest.

“Wait whaaat! This is so cool!” I shriek. “Hey, Temari, would you look at this! Sasuke The Falcons is announced as the main cast of the upcoming movie, Coming Home To You. His official account just posted about it in like… several minutes ago.”

I give my phone to Temari and she takes it, staring at it in silence for a moment, perhaps reading through the caption.

“You’re right. How cool he is. I mean, The Falcons has only just made their first debut about two years ago, don’t they? And now the leader is about to make his first big screen debut!” She pauses for a moment. “But can he actually act though?”

“I don’t know but his acting in the ads featuring The Falcons is good enough, I guess? But one thing I know for certain is that compared to the other members, he is indeed the most demanded from fans. Like for instance, the tickets for his fan-meetings were always instantly sold out. I guess it’s just natural if he’s popular enough to make a big screen debut,” I said while taking back my phone from Temari. “But, if it’s about The Falcons, no matter what I still stan Sai the most.”

The Falcons is a boyband from Konoha, a metropolitan city in the neighboring island from our city, Kiri. They are like currently the most popular out of any idol groups in our country. There are five members within the group; Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Shimura Sai, Hozuki Suigetsu, and their leader, Uchiha Sasuke. Since their first debut under HEBI Entertainment Agency about two years ago, their popularity has skyrocketed, especially after their second single, Girls Like You, was released and stayed for weeks at number one in Konoha Radio Chart.

I can say I’m one of many of their hardcore fangirls. I follow all the members, but I’m actually more of a fan of Shimura Sai. I have like a large collection of his merchandises and been to Sai’s fanmeet events twice—that’s just how much I stan him to be honest. Even so, I have to admit that their leader, Uchiha Sasuke, is indeed the most talented with the biggest fanbase out of all members in The Falcons.

After all, big screen debut is not something your usual idol can achieve in such a short amount of time, right?

“Coming Home To You… if I’m not mistaken, Uzumaki Karin also got a role in that movie, didn’t she?” Temari asked suddenly.

“Oh, the young actress? Yeah, I think it was announced around last week, why?”

“There is this article in the magazine I’m reading…” She turns the page towards me. “It’s written here that she’s currently rumored to have a close relationship with Sasuke The Falcons. The paparazzi kinda got a picture of Karin having a private dinner with a man in a French restaurant yesterday and to be honest it’s not clear who the man was based on the picture alone. But with that unique hairstyle, it’s kinda impossible not to recognize who. He’s definitely Sasuke The Falcons, of course.”

Sasuke The Falcons does have a rather unique hairstyle. “Hm, I do think that’s indeed actually him.”

“If it turns out that Sasuke is also selected for the movie, isn’t it possible that their closeness is just a stunt for promotion?” Temari said again. She loves celebrity gossips so much I swear she’s now enjoying this. “Or are they genuinely close with each other?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t know much about him after all. It’s different when it comes to Sai though. Ask me anything about him and I guarantee you I will know the answer,” I say grinning, feeling proud.

Temari shakes her face. “You sound exactly like a stalker. Might as well you go date him, or even better what about you marrying him and having his baby? Who knows if your child could just be even more adorable than Sarada, your favorite in the hoikuen.”

“Haha, even in dreams, I don’t think it would ever happen.” I nudge Temari’s arm playfully. 

“It could be possible, right? No one knows what is going to happen in the future after all.”

Whether Temari suddenly has a special power or what, but that night I dream about going out with Sai The Falcons and eventually marrying him. I almost think it was real, until I realize that my child with Sai was actually Sarada and that’s exactly the moment I wake up from my sleep.

With a red face, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, this story will all be told from Ino’s POV, the outsider. Please enjoy it. Second, to be honest I know next to nothing about group idols, so please bear with me if you find anything regarding it not how it’s supposed to be in the real life. And last, English is not my native language so I would appreciate it if you would tell and correct my mistakes when you find any.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ino made a mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: NARUTO and its characters belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. I also don’t own any real life brands mentioned in the story.

Taking care of the children in the hoikuen is literally exhausting, especially of those three-year-olds whose curiosity has begun to form. Questions such as ‘what is this?’ and ‘what is that?’ are no longer a stranger to my ears and of course it means I must prepare the answers they can easily understand.

At first it was difficult, but after a few years in—and with the suggestion from the more experienced senseis here—I have made a list of questions that can potentially be asked by children aged three to five, along with the best answers. Ever since then, my list has continued to grow, mostly due to their wild imagination to come up with questions I have never thought of before.

Therefore, I shouldn’t have been surprised whenever such questions come to me—questions that had me thinking hard on how to answer (or if there is even an answer to begin with). But still, every time they do that, I can’t help being awkward.

And maybe because I made quite a blunder this time, it feels even more awkward than ever.

After osanpo (walking around) with the children around the neighborhood this morning as usual, we go straight to classroom activities. Usually a morning class for the group of three-year-olds, called Kuma (bear) class, is held with simple art and craft activities, such as making shapes using play-doh, singing, or drawing.

Today, I’ve decided to do morning class with drawing activities. The theme I gave to the children to draw about is ‘family’. I explained earlier what ‘family’ is and asked them to draw every family member in their home, including pets if they have one.

And this is where I do the blunder I mentioned before.

“If you have no father or no mother, it’s okay. You don’t need to draw them,” I said—and this is after I explained before that a typical family consists of a father, a mother, and their children.

“Ino-sensei, what do you mean by have no father or have no mother?” The first attack comes from a girl named Akimichi Chouchou, the only daughter of my former high school classmate, Akimichi Chouji. Quite different from the rest of the children, her parents have specifically made a request to hoikuen staff to double her portion for lunch. She inherits her eating habit from her father for sure.

I pause for a moment. My mind is struggling to find an answer they can easily understand and accept.

“I mean there’s no father or mother living at home,” I end up giving a vague answer my mind could come up with at that moment. Of course, I can’t talk about the concept of ‘divorce’ and ‘death’ yet. I don’t want to give them nightmares nor do I want to be fired due to the complains from the parents about me teaching inappropriate things to their young children.

“Why they aren’t home? Where they go?” The second attack comes from Uzumaki Boruto, your most active yet naughty and stubborn child of the Kuma class.

Boruto and his family moved from Konoha to Kiri last year because of his father’s job transfer to Kiri’s government office. But according to Uzumaki Naruto, his father who comes every day to deliver and pick up his son, they probably will have to move back to Konoha this fall because he’s here just for a training. If that’s the case, then why is Boruto sent here even though he’s going to attend this hoikuen for only half a year? I asked him that and he answered that it’s because his wife is currently heavily pregnant with their second child and she’s having quite a hard time taking care of Boruto alone when he’s not at home.

Not many know about this—maybe only a few hardcore fans like me—but Boruto is actually the nephew of Hyuuga Neji, a member of The Falcons. Boruto’s mother is Neji’s cousin—I immediately looked up for information on the internet after I saw Uzumaki-san’s wife for the first time during the hoikuen’s entrance ceremony. Their facial features just look so similar, especially around the eyes, and turns out that the familial connection between them is true after I confirmed to Uzumaki-san myself.

If Sarada is my favorite in the hoikuen, then Boruto… not so much. I gently massage my forehead thinking of an answer to his question.

“Your father is currently working right, Boruto? Well, what if your father works far away so that he can’t come home? That’s one of them. However, there are also several children who just don’t have a father or a mother, just like there are children who don’t have older siblings and those who have. Every family is different.”

“But all children must have a father and a mother at home, just like I also have my dad and my mom! And Sensei also said before that family is a father, mother, and their children, right? Sensei is weird!”  


Ugh, blunder.

I look at Tenten desperately, asking for help. Tenten is a part-time teacher and caregiver who is appointed to be my assistant in taking care of the Kuma class. She smiled sympathetically at me before taking the children’s attention away by teaching them how to draw pets.

Fortunately, three-year-olds are also easily distracted. I bet if they were a few years older, they might still be demanding an answer out of me until they were satisfied. Thank goodness.

I sigh with relief after successfully avoiding one of the hardships in my life (lol). Unable to resist, my eyes shifted to Sarada who’s now paying her full attention to Tenten-sensei drawing a cat on the blackboard.

It’s not without a reason I made that blunder with the children. At that time, I remembered Sarada who doesn’t have a father, or rather how a father is not listed at all in her personal data.

I don’t know whether Sarada is aware of the absence of a father in her life or not, but I merely just don’t want to risk making things difficult for her. As I thought, I do indeed play favorites when it comes to her—definitely not a good direction for my career in the near future.

.

.

“Otsukaresama (thanks for your hardwork), Ino-sensei!” Tenten exclaims lightly, breaking my thoughts. “The children are all now taking a nap, so we can finally relax until they wake up later before the afternoon class.”

“Otsukaresama. Yep, today isn’t over yet, there’s still less than half a day left,” I reply with a smile. Then I stretch my sore back and my two arms, feeling tired more than usual, mostly because of the incident that happened this morning. “Ah, yeah, I almost forgot to thank you for your help this morning.”

“It’s nothing. If I were in your position, I would find it difficult as well,” she responds with a smile and a pat on my shoulder. Somehow I feel like I’m being pitied. I can only chuckle bitterly at that.

“By the way,” Tenten continues, “these are the drawings that the children did this morning, should I hang them in the gallery now or what?”

“Let me do it. You can go rest first.”

I take the pile of drawings from Tenten’s hands and then walk towards the gallery room. The children’s works, be it drawings or other handicrafts, are usually displayed in the hoikuen’s gallery for a week so parents can see what their children are doing each week. Parents can also submit a request to bring home their own child’s work after the display is over if they wish.

I can’t help laughing a little while hanging the children’s drawings one by one in the gallery. I remember there is this famous artist who said that if you want to learn how to draw, you go learn from the children. If you ask why, then it’s because their imaginations are still so wild, unrestrained by the boundary of logic gradually formed when you grow up. At this exact moment, I feel like I can finally understand what the artist meant. I gave the children a specific theme of ‘family’ to draw about but they drew it in various shapes and colors.

I mean, take a look at Chouchou’s drawing for example—I don’t understand whether she tried to draw her father or… a donut? In my mind, I can’t help imagining Chouji as a literal walking donut and I become unable to stop my laughter. Oh my God.

And now what is this? It seems like Boruto drew his father like… huh, what? I don’t understand why there are somewhat of huge tails behind the figure of his father and I count there are like nine of them. Does Boruto think of his father as a nine-tailed monster or what? I have no idea honestly—but whatever it is, Boruto draws pretty good for a three-year-old. This kid has a talent in drawing. He also drew his mother with an obvious enlarged belly. It seems like he’s already aware that he’s going to have a brother or a sister soon.

Apart from that, Boruto also drew two giant shaped frogs… does the Uzumaki family keep frogs in their house? What an odd choice of pets—and why are they so big?

The next picture, as well as the last picture I’m displaying, makes me pause for a moment after I realize who this drawing belongs to—the name ‘Haruno Sarada’ is imprinted on the right corner of the paper. Before I have repeatedly mentioned that Sarada is a talented child, but it seems like drawing is not what she’s good at.

To be honest, I don’t really understand what she has drawn.

The drawing is crowded—lots of colorful lines and obscure shapes filled almost the entire surface of the paper and I don’t even understand what they are. Are these supposed to be flowers? Then what is this box-shaped thing?

However, what caught my attention the most is the three figures—one small and two big human-like figures in the middle.

I shake my head once I realize that my mind is suddenly filled with various thoughts. I must not assume things, as Temari once said. Perhaps later I should ask Sarada who these figures are.

.

.

One of the duties for the head teachers who have specific class assigned for them is writing weekly reports for the parents. The content of the report is quite simple; as a teacher and caregiver, I only need to write down what the children have done during the past week, some comments on the children’s development, and a suggestion for parents. As a response, parents also need to provide a feedback for the hoikuen, which contains any of their children’s developments at home, as well as comments and suggestions for the teachers.

Writing reports for all eight children in the Kuma class is not an easy thing I’m telling you, because it’s like you need to review the children’s daily activity log, sort out what to write, and give specific comments for each child.

Since I’m not in the mood to finish everything at hoikuen until late, I’ve decided to bring my work home. So, now here I am, still struggling in front of my laptop, typing the children reports I need to upload before the day ends.

Fortunately, Futaba Hoikuen has adapted to the development of technology so that the children weekly reports are all done in digital format. It is quite an effective and efficient method considering 95% of the parents are workers (there are small number of students), so they certainly don’t have much free time besides working and taking care of their family at home. So, I just need to upload the report and in an instant the parents will receive it straight to their mobile devices.

“Still not finished yet, Ino?” Temari asks.

“Not yet. Just two more children left,” I reply, still focusing on my laptop’s screen.

“Oh, good luck then. By the way, can I turn on the TV? You’re the type who can still work despite the noise from the TV, aren’t you?”

I nod. I don’t care either way.

I keep typing to finish my work while Temari calmly watches the television. Shikadai seems to be sleeping in the guest room. Maybe. I don’t know. And around thirty minutes later, I finally manage to finish everything. I close my laptop and then put my forehead on the table. I sigh deeply.

“What’s with you?” I hear Temari asks.

“I think I’m going to be fired… I’m so unprofessional I can’t believe it…”

“Huh? Why? What happened?” Temari asks again.

I ignore Temari and just quietly lean my face against the folds of my arms. I can literally feel my heart pounding slightly faster than usual. I’m really surprised of myself; how can I feel nervous just now? It’s already too late for that.

I close my eyes. What happened that day is still fresh inside my mind.

.

_“Sarada, if you don’t mind, can you tell me what you drew here?” I asked gently, pointing to Sarada’s own drawing displayed in the gallery._

_“Oh, that’s my apartment, Sensei. Here is a rosemary flower because we plant rosemary at the balcony. And then this is the stray cat I found in our apartment’s backyard. Mama said I can’t keep it inside but it’s okay to give it cat food every morning.”_

_Sarada continued to explain all the strange-looking objects she drew. This child… seemed like she somewhat misunderstood the meaning of ‘family’ I had explained before. Or could it be that she simply thought all the things in her house as ‘family’? Sarada is just cute like that._

_“The one in the middle is me. I’m wearing my favorite red dress that Mama bought me for my birthday.”_

_I paid my full attention on what she said when it came to the objects of my curiosity in the first place._

_She then pointed the left figure besides her own._

_“This is my Mama…”_

_Then her finger moved to the right one._

_“…and this is Papa.”_

_I paused for a moment. I couldn’t take my eyes off the figure described by Sarada as her ‘Papa’. My mind went blank at that time. It was kind of difficult to process what she had said, as if there was something in my mind denying it to exist._

_“Sarada… has a papa?”_

_The girl nodded._

_“Sarada’s Papa is home?”_

_She smiled. “I see Papa at home a lot!”_

.

I didn’t ask anything else after that because my brain still found it difficult to digest everything Sarada has said. And not long after that, Sarada’s mother arrived to pick her up. What a great timing! At that moment, I could only take Sarada to her mother and wave my hand at them when they left.

When my brain finally started to properly function again after a nice dinner and a few drinks, I began to think of any possibilities based on what Sarada has said before in the hoikuen.

So Sarada has a papa and knows who he is? But then why did Haruno-san claim to be a single mother to Kurenai-sensei and why the heck is the data on Sarada’s father missing then?

Did Haruno-san lie to her daughter? It can be that because she simply didn’t want to make Sarada upset, she lied by saying that her daughter has a father and telling her who he is. But that doesn’t answer how Sarada could say that her father is home. Did Haruno-san show her a photo of her father? But if that’s the case, then the drawing of her father should be in the form of a photo, not a full human figure considering how detailed Sarada described all of the objects she has drawn (even though her drawing is also… uh… ugly—forgive me Sarada!).

Which means, it is very likely that there’s indeed a man in their life and Sarada considers him as her father. It may also be that the man often comes to Sarada and her mother’s apartment because she never said that ‘her papa’ lives with them. Everything is now beginning to make sense, and after all, the man she considers as her father doesn’t necessarily have to be her biological father, right?

Is he their neighbor then, considering Sarada sees him a lot in her apartment?

And if Sarada already treats him as her father and Haruno-san herself seems to not mind that, could there be a special connection exist between that man and Haruno-san?

…even a single mother has a boyfriend, huh.

Somehow, I suddenly felt so sorry for myself. Well, I’m indeed still single and I’m never in denial of that, so what the heck do I want then?

…or maybe I simply just feel ‘rivaled’. So much to the point that I was being impulsive and wrote that kind of thing in the report.

“I’m sure I’ll definitely get fired after this…” I complain again, taking a deep breath.

“What the heck is going on here?” Temari asks, sounding annoyed enough because I’ve been ignoring her. “Quick tell me the reason why you’re so sure you’ll get fired!”

I open my laptop and show her the weekly report of Sarada that I have uploaded to hoikuen’s online website.

“Pfft, you are sooo gonna be fired,” Temari chuckle. “Just chill and take it easy though. It’s okay if you’re fired. I can ask Shikamaru to find another job for you.”

“I don’t want to…” I say then, “If I get fired because of this, my CV will look bad and I won’t be able to find job at another hoikuen or yochien. You know how cruel this society is… my career will be ruined. And not to mention I love my current job and have struggled so much just to get a teaching certificate for an early education—wait does that mean it will be useless then?”

“Geez, Ino… I’m just joking! After all, it’s not certain that you’re going to be fired for real anyway. You’re just worrying too much.” Temari pats my back softly. “However, I still don’t understand why did you have to write things like, _‘Sarada also seems to be very close to her father, so I think it’d be better if Haruno-san marries your boyfriend so that he can officially become Sarada’s papa and live together with the both of you,’_ for a student report? It’s obvious that you’re just assuming things again about someone you don’t know personally. Are you looking for a fight?”

“Eh, don’t just casually reread it like that… it makes me depressed again…”

“Just pray that Haruno-san isn’t the type of person who gets offended over something like this.”

“…I will do that.”

But it seems like my prayer isn’t answered—because the next day when I was cleaning my apartment, an e-mail came from Kurenai-sensei, the Futaba Hoikuen’s principal.

The content tells me that Haruno Sakura, Sarada’s mother, requested to meet me personally on Sunday tomorrow at lunch time.

I’m so, so dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early education in Japan consists of two; yochien (kindergarten) and hoikuen (nursery school). The differences can be seen from the name. Yochien typically accept children aged 3-5 years and are more focused on preparing young children for formal education. The class runs from morning to noon and parents normally prepare their own children’s lunch. Meanwhile, hoikuen typically accept children aged 0-5 years and are more focused as a daycare for parents who are busy working for the day, so the activities are more of playing than actual studying. Hoikuen runs from morning to late afternoon so parents can pick up their children after work.


End file.
